Championship club Doncaster have announced the signing of former Super League back-rower Andre Savelio. Savelio joins the Dons for the 2025 campaign after leaving Huddersfield Giants at the end of last season and he’ll be striving to help push the club towards the Championship play-offs.
Savelio has made the decision to step away from full-time rugby league as he continues to struggle with a rare brain condition, something he opened up to Serious About Rugby League about recently. The back-rower has been keen to play part-time, though, and will be linking up with Richard Horne’s side for the new season.
Savelio has been training with the club for the last few weeks and he could even make his first appearance for the club next weekend when the club host a Hull FC second string outfit.
“Andre has played at the top level for almost the entirety of his career and we’ve seen before how players with that experience can impact the rest of the boys,” Horne told the Doncaster website following the addition of Savelio. “Not only that, he’s a big powerful lad that will contribute to both our attacking plays as well as defence.”
The 29-year-old started his career with St Helens, making 42 appearances with the club before moving on to join Warrington Wolves for a season. He made the switch to Brisbane Broncos in 2018 but a serious knee injury ensured he left the club before making a single appearance.
The back-rower landed at Hull FC in 2019 and featured 64 times for the Black and Whites over five seasons, scoring 18 tries along the way. However, after missing much of last season through the aforementioned condition, he walked away from Huddersfield Giants after just one year.
Savelio knows a host of players within the Doncaster camp, having played with Josh Bowden and Bureta Faraimo at Hull FC, while Horne spent time coaching him during his own spell at the MKM Stadium.
You can read Serious About RL’s in-depth interview with Savelio here.
